Microtome.



P ATEN TED DEC. 1 0-, 1907.

H. LEBRUN MIGROTOME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.20,1906.

HECTOR LEBRUN, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

MIGROTOM'E Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

Application filed March 20. 1906. Serial No. 807.078.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HECTOR LEBRUN, a subject of the King of Belgium,residing at 29 Rue Van Ostaede, Brussels, Belgium, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in and Relating to Microtomes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The object of the present invention is a microtome by means of whichsections of an object incased in the usual manner in paraffin wax can bemade and directly mounted upon glass supports, one after the other insuch a manner that they form upon the surface of the support acontinuous ribbon arranged in a circle or spirally.

The invention consists essentially in combining with a microtome ofknown construction, a support or slide carrier turning on a verticalaxle and arranged beneath the knife of the microtome and close to it sothat the ribbon formed by successive slices of the block of parafiin waxeach adhering to the following, edge to edge, as is produced by anordinary microtome, is arranged in a circle on the support or slide"placed on the carrier and turning therewith. The axle of the carrier ismounted on an arrangement of slides which permits of its horizontalmovement in two directions at right angles to each other during therotation of the carrier for the purpose of enabling the ribbon to bearranged spirally if so desired.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of amicrotome to which the present improvements have been applied.

' Figs. 2 and 3 are views, partially in vertical section of the twoslides upon which the support or slide carrier is mounted. Fig. 4 is anelevation partly in section and Fig. 5 is a plan of a modifiedarrangement of support or slide carrier.

The microtome itself does not differ from those generally used exceptthat the ordinary knife carrier is re laced by two arms a a fixedhorizontally to t e frame b b of the machine, the knife 0 being fixed byscrews (1 d in grooves made in the front part of the arms. Thisarrangement enables sufficient space to be left under the knifetoaccommodatethe slide carrier which consists of a plate e preferablycircular in shape, (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1) mounted on thevertical axle f to which a rotary movement is given by any suitablemeans for instance by clockwork contained in a barrel 9 incasing theaxle f. This barrel 9 is carried by a base it resting on a slideorchannel t in which is fitted an endless screw 1' engaging with a nut hfixed under the base h. A handle is permits of the screw j being turnedin both directions to move the support carrier backwards and forwards inthe channel t. Beneath the channel t is similarly fixed a nut h withwhich a second endless screw Z engages which is fitted in a channel marranged at right angles to the channel (a. By means of the handle n thescrew Z can be turned in both directions so that the channel t with thesupport carrier mounted upon it is moved backwards and forwards alongthe channel m.

The graduations on the sides of the channels t and m enable the amountof displacement of the carrier in either direction to be regulatedexactly, 0 is the support or slide consisting preferably of a disk ofglass covered with a thin layer of a suitable adhesive material. Thisdisk is placed on the plate 6 of the slide carrier and can be perforatedwith a hole in the center to receive the top of the axle f when thelatter projects above the upper surface of the plate 6 as shown in Fig.1.

The microtome shown in Fig. 1 is of well known construction in which theblock of paraffin wax p incasing the object to be sliced is carried byan arm q mounted in a support 1" fixed to a vertical carriage to whichan up and down movement within the frame I) can be imparted by means ofthe crank 15 operated by a hand wheel a.

Clockwork 12 causes the support 1' with the block 1) to advance towardsthe knife 0 a distance equal to the thickness of the slice to be cut ateach revolution of the wheel a corresponding to one up and'down movementof the support 7'. It is a simple matterto regulate the clockwork orother means for operating the slide carrier so that for each revolutionof the wheel uthe carrier e and the disk 0 are rotated a distancepractically equal to the width of the slice cut from the block p. Theefiect of the rotation of the disk 0 will be that the ribbon asconsisting of successive slices of the block 1) which adhere to eachother as they pass over the knife will be arranged in a circle on thedisk 0 and in order to prevent the inner edges of the slices fromoverlapping, the shape of the block is made more or less trapezoidal byobliquely cutting its upper and lower surfaces or by so cutting one ofthem.

If it is desired that the ribbon be spirally arranged on the disk 0 thecarrier is moved b means of the screws 9' and Z so as to displace thecenter of rotation of the disk each time the disk has described aquarter or half a circle according as to whether a spiral with four ortwo centers is required. In the first case one of the screws is operatedafter a quarter turn of the disk so as to displace the center of thedisk a distance equal to half the width of a slice of the block p, thenafter a second quarter the other screw is similarly operated and so onso that the line followed by the center of the disk forms a square. Inthe secondcase a less perfect spiral is obtained by successivelyoperating the two screws after each half turn of the disk so that thedisplacement of the center of the latter follows a straight line.

According to the modification of the arrangement shown in Figs. 4 and 5the channel '5 in which the carrierslides can be pivoted at one end to avertical aXle w. In this case the action of the lower screw Z can bereplaced by a partial rotation of the channel i with the carrier roundthe pivot w. If the disks used are without the hole in the center theplate of the slide carrier can be provided with a vertical flange y andthe plate is made large enough for the disks to be fitted in the flangeas shown in Fig. 4.

I/Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. The combination with a microtome of a support placed underneath theknife of the said microtome for receiving thesuccessive slices of theobject to be cut and means for imparting a revolving motion to saidsupport.

2. The combination with a microtome of a support located underneath theknife of the said microtome for receiving the successive slices of theobject to be cut, means for imparting a revolving motion to said supportand means for moving the center of revolution of said support.

3. The combination with a microtome of a support for receiving thesuccessive sections of the object to be sliced, a carrier for saidsupport arranged on a vertical axle underneath the knife of themicrotome, means for imparting a rotary motion to said axle, a base uponwhich said aXle rests and rotates, a slide-way carrying said base, meansfor moving said base along said slide-way, a second slide way upon whichrests the first slide way at right angles therewith and means for movingthe said first slide way along said second slide-way.

4. The combination with a microtome of a support for receiving thesuccessive sections of the object to be sliced, a carrier for saidsupport arranged on a vertical aXle underneath the knife of themicrotome, means for imparting rotatory motion to said axle, a basecarrying said axle, a slide-way upon which said base rests, means formoving said basealong said slide-way and. a vertical axle upon which ispivoted the said slide way.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to thisspecification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HECTOR LEBRUN.

Witnesses JAo UEs SEVERE, GREGORY PHELAN.

